The Joy of your presence

When we arrived at the Verbum Dei Missionary Centre on April 25th, these words from Psalm 21 echoed strongly in my heart. The Crucifix which is at the entrance, welcomed us with open arms, and in the welcome area up the hill, we were met by smiling missionaries who had been waiting for us for a while.

"THE JOY OF YOUR PRESENCE": were the words expressed with our eyes and our hearts by both the Servants of the Gospel and Verbum Dei. We savoured the joy of this reunion! We felt the joy of being at home! We realised that our hearts were prepared. We all knew that we were experiencing a historic event that both communities had longed for. For example, Serafin hugged us and laughed, saying: "Ha, ha, ha ... This is heaven!” There was, of course, a mixture of emotions, but above all, a feeling of mutual appreciation, recognition and gratitude.

We celebrated the Eucharist presided by Luis Alfonso and accompanied by several priests of the two communities, among them: Darío, Rodri, Alceu, Bernardo andAndre. Just before the sign of peace, M ° Amparo gave an introduction explaining that the Servants of the Gospel wanted to dedicate a song to Verbum Dei, called "We are brothers." We then gave each other a sign of peace with a hug dedicating all the time that was necessary to make it as sincere as possible. The big surprise was that many of the missionaries and married couples of Verbum Dei who were there, already knew this song and we could sing it together. It was very emotional!

At the end of the Eucharist we took a group picture of everyone next to a large photo of Jaime Bonet, while we happily sang: "It is written in your eyes that God does not fail". It is true, God does not fail; God has made possible what seemed impossible to us. He, who promised us that it is possible to live the Kingdom, has made it possible and lets us "touch it" with experiences like this.

Both personally andon behalf of the community, I would like to thank the brothers and sisters of both communities who had the initiative of bringing about this historic meeting. Personally, I realise that it has given me theurgeto look forward with a whole, more unified and more grateful heart. Thanks also go to the brothers and sisters who have made this long process of reconciliation possible and who have helped others to live in an increasingly “normal”atmosphere - as Luis Alfonso said - of peace, freedom, fraternity, joy, mercy and mission. I cannot finish without thanking Jaime Bonet and MaríaAreitio for the great part they have played in making this happen, without them it wouldn`t have been possible and undoubtedly they smiled at us from heaven that day.

It is worth giving our life for Christ and for the Kingdom.There is no greater joy than living to do His will and in the mission nowwe will have - as Luis Alfonso said - "much more strength".